Milos Raonic and Roberto Bautista Agut have taken care of business en route to an intriguing semifinal clash on Saturday in St. Petersburg. Dominic Thiem and Joao Sousa are also aiming for a place in the title match.
(4) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (2) Milos Raonic
Raonic and Bautista Agut will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide during semifinal action at the St. Petersburg Open on Saturday. Their only previous encounter also came as part of the fall swing, a little less than one year ago. At the 2014 Paris Masters, Raonic got the job done 7-5, 7-6(7) in a third-round battle that ultimately propelled him to World Tour Finals qualification.
Mainly because of foot injury that began plaguing him this spring, the second-seeded Canadian needs consistently impressive results over the next several weeks to make it back to London. Raonic appears to finding some much-needed form with routine wins in St. Petersburg over Evgeny Donskoy and Tommy Robredo. Bautista Agut, who also earned a first-round bye, has advanced by taking Teymuraz Gabashvili and Lucas Pouille. The 23rd-ranked Spaniard also played well at the U.S. Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in an entertaining four-setter in the third round. Although current form favors Bautista Agut, an indoor hard court will allow Raonic to dictate play with his huge serve and flat groundstrokes.
Pick: Raonic in 2
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(7) Joao Sousa vs. (3) Dominic Thiem
Thiem owns three titles in his career, all coming this year and all of the 250-point variety. He is arguably the favorite to lift a similar trophy–although this would be his first on a hard court–based on the four players who are left standing. The 21-year-old Austrian reached the last 32 in New York and so far this week he has eased past Andreas Haider-Maurer and Denis Istomin.
With a 3-0 head-to-head record at Sousa’s expense heading into Saturday, Thiem is certainly the favorite to at least make it to the final. These two competitors have faced each other twice in 2015, with Thiem winning in straight sets on the indoor hard courts of Marseille and again in the Umag final. Sousa, who is the essence of an all-court player but has actually posted his best results indoors, punched his ticket to the semis by defeating Radu Albot, Marcel Granollers, and Simone Bolelli. As Portugal’s top player is well aware, this is a considerable step up in competition. Thiem has Sousa’s number and there is no reason to think the trend will come to an end now.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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Them in 2 and Raonic in 3 that could be tough one cuz RBA will fight for sure. Raonic’s performance against Robredo shows he is rounding back into form.
Joao Sousa defeated Dominic Thiem 6-4, 7-6(5).
i was sad to see Thiem go out in two. Although he is the oldest of the bright young things (along with. Alexandre Zeverev and Borna Coric) he is the one I. see with the most staying power He has the complete game, or will have if he can master the drop shot. Until he does he should resist being so profligate with it – that more than anything proved to be his downfall against Sousa.
Plus Raonic will have easier time of it against Sousa than he would’ve against Thiem.